Maintenance of a fabric priority among operations in related fibre channel exchanges

ABSTRACT

Provided are a method, a system, and a computer program that use a Fibre Connection (FICON) protocol, in which a first device that is coupled to a second device receives an outbound exchange from the second device, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange have a priority indicated by the second device. The first device responds to the second device with an inbound exchange, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange have an identical priority to the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange. In additional embodiments, priority is maintained across related exchange pairs.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments are related to the maintenance of a fabric priority among operations in related Fibre Channel Exchanges.

2. Background

Fibre Channel is a switched communications protocol that allows communication among computing devices. Fibre Channel may be considered to be a channel and network hybrid, containing enough network features to provide the needed connectivity, distance and protocol multiplexing, and enough channel features to retain simplicity, repeatable performance and reliable delivery. Fibre Channel is capable of transmission of frames at rates extending from 1 Gbps (gigabits per second) to 16 Gbps or more. It is also able to transport commands and data according to existing protocols such as Internet protocol (IP), Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), High Performance Parallel Interface (HIPPI) and Intelligent Peripheral Interface (IPI), etc.

In certain situations, Fibre Channel is used to connect one or more devices, where the devices may include computing and storage devices. In the terminology of Fibre Channel, each of these devices is considered a node. One node may be connected directly to another, or may be interconnected, such as, via a Fibre Channel fabric. The fabric may be a single Fibre Channel switch, or a group of switches acting together. Multiple Fibre Channel switches may be combined into a single fabric.

Fibre Channel data is formatted into variable length frames. Each frame may include a header and a data payload field. The integrated set of architectural standards that describe the formatting of Fibre Channel frames, data transfer mechanisms, and other aspects of the Fibre Channel architecture are being developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

“Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling-4 (FC-FS-4)”, Rev. 0.50, published May 16, 2014 is a working draft proposed by ANSI, and describes the framing and signaling requirements for Fibre Channel links. “Fibre Channel Link Services (FC-LS-3)”, Rev. 3.10, published Feb. 1, 2014 is a working draft proposed by ANSI, and describes the link services requirements for Fibre Channel.

FICON (Fibre Connection) is a Fibre Channel Protocol and may also be referred to by the formal names of FC-SB-3, FC-SB-4, or FC-SB-5. The protocol and functions specified by FC-SB-3 continues to be supported in FC-SB-4 and FC-SB-5, and further details of FC-SB-5 may be found in the publication, “FIBRE CHANNEL Single-Byte Command Code Sets Mapping Protocol-5 (FC-SB-5)”, Rev. 2.0, published Mar. 26, 2013 by ANSI.

FICON is a Fibre Channel layer 4 protocol used to map certain types of channel to control unit cabling infrastructure and protocol onto standard Fibre Channel services and infrastructure, where a channel is a direct or a switched point-to-point connection between communicating devices. FICON uses two Fibre Channel exchanges for a channel to control unit connection—one for each direction. So while a Fibre Channel exchange is capable of carrying a command and response on a single exchange, the response to a FICON information unit (IU) is always on a different exchange from the IU to which it is a response. The two exchanges that implement a connection are called an exchange pair.

A storage controller is computational devices that controls access to one or more storage devices. Host computing systems may access data stored in the storage devices via the storage controller that may be coupled to the host via a fabric. Thus the storage controller and hosts may operate in a Fibre Channel environment and may be coupled via a fabric.

SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Provided are a method, a system, and a computer program that use a Fibre Connection (FICON) protocol, in which a first device that is coupled to a second device receives an outbound exchange from the second device, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange have a priority indicated by the second device. The first device responds to the second device with an inbound exchange, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange have an identical priority to the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange.

In additional embodiments, the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange comprise a first exchange pair. A connection between the first device and the second device is disconnected. Subsequent to disconnecting, the first device and second device are reconnected, and a communication is performed via a second exchange pair comprising another outbound and inbound exchange, wherein Fibre Channel frames of the second exchange pair have an identical priority to the priority indicated in the first exchange pair.

In further embodiments, the reconnecting occurs through a different physical path than a path of the first exchange pair. The priority is recorded in a task control block maintained in the first device, and the recorded priority is used for the second exchange pair.

In yet further embodiments, the first device is a storage controller that controls a plurality of storage devices, the second device is a host, and a fabric comprising one or more Fibre Channel switches couples the first device to the second device.

In certain embodiments the fabric transmits the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange according to and with the priority indicated by the host to the storage controller. Additionally, the fabric transmits the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange according to and with the identical priority indicated by the storage controller in the inbound exchange.

In additional embodiments, the priority is indicated by programming a CS_CTL/Priority field in a frame headers corresponding to one Fibre Channel frame.

In further embodiments, an exchange pair is comprised of the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange, wherein each of the inbound and the outbound exchange is comprised of one or more sequences, and wherein each sequence is comprised of one or more Fibre Channel frames.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numbers represent corresponding parts throughout:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing environment comprising a storage controller coupled to a host via a fabric by using the FICON protocol, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram that how priority is indicated in a Fibre Channel frame of the FICON protocol, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram that shows exemplary Fibre Channel and FICON data structures, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram that shows an exemplary inbound and outband exchange in FICON, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a first flowchart that shows operations performed for maintaining priority within an exchange pair, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a second flowchart that shows operations performed for maintaining priority within an exchange pair, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram that shows how priority is maintained within related exchange pairs, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates a third flowchart that shows operations performed for maintaining priority within related exchange pairs when reconnection is via the same or a different physical path, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram of a cloud computing environment, in accordance with certain embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a block diagram of further details of the cloud computing environment of FIG. 9, in accordance with certain embodiments; and

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a computational system that shows certain elements that may be included in the storage controller or the host shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with certain embodiments;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof and which illustrate several embodiments. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and operational changes may be made.

Certain embodiments allow priority of Fibre Channel frames to be maintained within an exchange pair and also within related exchange pairs in communications that use the FICON protocol. Further details of FICON may be found in the publication, “FIBRE CHANNEL Single-Byte Command Code Sets Mapping Protocol-5 (FC-SB-5)”, Rev. 2.0, published Mar. 26, 2013, by ANSI.

Exemplary Embodiments

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a computing environment 100 comprising a storage controller 102 coupled to a host 104 via one or more Fibre Channel fabrics 106 a, 106 b, in accordance with certain embodiments. In certain embodiments communication takes place by using the FICON protocol (shown via reference numerals 107 a, 107 b, 107 c, 107 d).

The storage controller 102 and the host 104 may comprise any suitable computational device including those presently known in the art, such as, a personal computer, a workstation, a server, a mainframe, a hand held computer, a palm top computer, a telephony device, a network appliance, a blade computer, a processing device, etc. The storage controller 102 and the host 104 may be elements in any suitable network, such as, a storage area network, a wide area network, the Internet, an intranet. In certain embodiments, storage controller 102 and the host 104 may be elements in a cloud computing environment.

In certain embodiments, the storage controller 102 is coupled to the host 104 via one or more Fibre Channel fabrics 106 a, 106 b, where a Fibre Channel fabric is also referred to as a fabric. The fabrics 106 a, 106 b are comprised of one or more Fibre Channel switches 108 a, 108 b. A host application 110 executes in the host 104 and a storage controller application 112 executes in the storage controller 102 within a central processing complex 116, where the host application 110 and the storage controller application 112 may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. The communication between the host 104 and the storage controller 102 uses the FICON protocol that is implemented over Fibre Channel and uses Fibre Channel frames.

The storage controller 102 controls access to one or more storage devices 114 a, 114 n that are placed within a plurality of storage enclosures 115 a . . . 115 s. The controlling of access to the storage devices 114 a . . . 114 n may be performed via the central processing complex 116 that executes in the storage controller application 112. The central processing complex 116 may also include data structures for a task control block (TCB) 118 that stores in a data structure 120, the priority value for related exchange pairs.

In certain embodiments, the host 104, the fabrics 106 a, 106 b, and the storage controller 102 may transmit or receive Fibre Channel frames via exchange pairs 122, 124 in accordance with the FICON protocol as shown in FIG. 1. Each exchange pair 122, 124 may be comprised of an inbound and an outbound exchange, and exchange pairs 122 and 124 are shown as related exchange pairs in FIG. 1.

In certain embodiments, the storage enclosures 115 a, . . . 115 s may have a plurality of ports 126 a . . . 126 p, 128 a . . . 128 q. In certain embodiments, different exchange pairs may be used for communicating via different ports or different fabrics. For example, exchange pair 122 is used over port 126 a and fabric 106 a, and exchange pair 124 is used over port 128 q and fabric 106 b.

In certain embodiments, within an exchange pair, the host 104 indicates a priority in Fibre Channel frames on commands intended for the storage controller 102 that are sent via the fabric 106 a in an outbound exchange. The storage controller 102 responds to the command from the host 104 by sending Fibre Channel frames via the fabric 106 a with the same priority as the priority indicated by the host 104 in an inbound exchange.

In certain embodiments, the storage controller 102 may disconnect from the host 104 after communicating via a first exchange pair 122. After disconnection, the storage controller 102 may retrieve data, and send the data via a second exchange pair 124. In certain embodiments, the priority of the first exchange pair 122 is carried over the second exchange pair 124.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram 200 that how priority is indicated in Fibre Channel frames of FICON, in accordance with certain embodiments.

FC-FS-4 provides a mechanism to indicate a priority in the header 202 of a Fibre Channel frame. The CS_CTL/Priority field 204 is used to indicate the priority of the Fibre Channel frame. In an exemplary CS_CTL/Priority field 206 bits 25-31 indicate the priority as shown via reference numeral 208. A value of 0000000b bits 31-25 indicates that no Priority has been assigned to the frame. The remaining values indicates, in ascending order, the relative priority of the frame (e.g., a Priority of 23h is considered to have a lower priority than a Priority of 57h). Higher priority frames (i.e., frames with a higher indicated priority) receive preferential treatment for processing, resources, transmission, etc. in comparison to lower priority frames (i.e., frames with a lower indicated priority).

Certain embodiments use Fiber Channel storage area network (SAN) architecture to provide mechanisms for a host application or operating system to specify a fabric priority to be used to manage input/output (I/O) requests through the SAN. The Fibre Channel standards allow for specification of an operation priority in each frame sent for the operation. Fibre channel switches 108 may use this information to provide a guaranteed (or a higher quality of service) for higher priority operations.

In certain embodiments the storage controller 102 is set to the same priority that is received in an I/O operation from a host 104, in all frames sent from the storage controller 102 that are related to the operation. This includes frames in the same exchange pair or in related exchange pairs. The support and use of fabric priority in Fibre Channel frames in FICON is negotiated to avoid disruption to existing installations.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram that shows exemplary Fibre Channel and FICON data structures 300, in accordance with certain embodiments. A Fibre Channel frame 302 is comprised of a frame header 304 and a frame payload 306, where the frame header 304 may include control information and the frame payload 306 may include data. A sequence 308 (mapped as an Information Unit in FICON) is comprised of one or more frames 310 a . . . 310 m, and an exchange 312 is comprised of a plurality of sequences 314 a . . . 314 p. A channel to control unit connection in FICON 316 is comprised of two exchanges (referred to as an exchange pair) comprising an outbound exchange 318 and an inbound exchange 320.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram 400 that shows identical priority indication in Fibre Channel frames of an exemplary exchange pair in FICON, in accordance with certain embodiments. In an outbound exchange 401 a, a host sends a read command to a storage controller (at block 402) where the read command is sent via Fibre Channel frame(s) 404 that include the priority indication of 27h (reference numeral 405). The storage controller in response sends via an inbound exchange 401 b, data to the host (at block 406), where the data is sent via Fibre Channel frame(s) 408 that include the priority indication of 27h (reference numeral 409), i.e., the priority indication in the inbound exchange 401 b from the storage controller is the same as the priority indication in the outbound exchange 401 a from the host. Therefore, in certain embodiments, the priority indication (e.g., 27h) in the inbound and outbound exchanges of an exchange pair are the same.

FIG. 5 illustrates a first flowchart 500 that shows operations performed for maintaining priority within an exchange pair comprising an outbound exchange 501 a and an inbound exchange 501 b, in accordance with certain embodiments.

Control starts at block 502 in which within an outbound exchange 501 a, a host application 110 assigns a priority to an operation. The fabric 106 forwards (at block 504) the operations according to and with the same priority to the storage controller 102 within the outbound exchange 501 a. The storage controller 102 responds via the fabric 106 with the same priority (at block 506) within an inbound exchange 501 b, and the fabric 106 then forwards (at block 508) the response of the storage controller 102 to the host application 110 according to and with the same priority within the inbound exchange 501 b. The priority is maintained within the exchange pair comprising the outbound exchange and the inbound exchange by programming the CS_CTL/Priority field of the frame headers with the priority initially assigned by the host application 110 at block 502.

FIG. 6 illustrates a second flowchart 600 that shows operations performed for maintaining priority within an exchange pair comprising an outbound exchange 601 a, comprising operations 604, 606, and an in inbound exchange 601 b comprising operations 608, 610, in accordance with certain embodiments.

In FIG. 6, in a first phase a fabric priority enablement is performed (at block 602) In fabric priority enablement, Fabric Login and N_Port login service parameters are used to negotiate use of priority in frames sent and received (See FC-LS-3 rev 3.10). For N_Port Login, the host 104 sets the Priority bit (word 0, bit 23) to one to indicate tolerance for non-zero values in the Priority field in the frame header when CS_CTL/Priority Enable bit (F_CTL bit 17) is set to one. The target/control unit indicates tolerance for non-zero values in the Priority field by setting this bit to one in the LS_ACC.

For Fabric Login, the priority bit indicates support for a priority function. When an Nx_Port performs Login with a fabric (FLOGI), it requests support for use of the Priority field by setting the Priority bit (word 0, bit 23) to one. If Priority is set to one in both the FLOGI and the FLOGI LS_ACC, then both the Nx_Port and fabric 106 have agreed that priority is available for use.

The storage device may indicate tolerance of non-zero values in Priority field (with F_CTL bit 17=1) by always setting the Priority service parameter bit to 1 for both class 2 and class 3 service parameters in a PLOGI ACC. The storage device may also indicate support for the fabric priority function by setting the Priority service parameter bit in the FLOGI service parameters for class 2 and 3. The received values of the Priority service parameter bits for class 2 and 3 may be recorded from the FLOGI LS_ACC and each PLOGI. If the Priority bit is set in both the FLOGI LS_ACC and a PLOGI, then the priority function is enabled for use with that remote N_Port (the port which is now logged in).

As a result of the fabric priority enablement operations, it is determined (at block 602) that the host 102, the fabric 106 and the storage controller 102 all support the indication of priority in Fibre Channel frames. The priority ranges supported are also determined so that suitable common priority ranges are used. Control proceeds to block 604 in which the host application 110 indicates a priority for an operation in Fibre Channel frames in the outbound exchange 601 a. The fabric 106 forwards (at block 606 in the outbound exchange 601 a) the operation to the storage controller 102 according to and with the same priority by indicating the priority in the priority field of the Fibre Channel frames.

The storage controller 106 returns frame(s) corresponding in the inbound exchange 601 b with the same priority indicated in the priority field of the Fiber Channel frames (at block 608 in the inbound exchange 601 b). The fabric 106 forwards the frames(s) received from the storage controller 102 to the host 104 by indicating the same priority in the priority field of the Fibre Channel frames (at block 610 in the inbound exchange 601 b) to ensure that the same priority is maintained throughout the exchange pair 601 a, 601 b.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram 700 that shows identical priority indication in frames of related exchanges in FICON, in accordance with certain embodiments.

Certain embodiments allow priority of frames to be maintained within a FICON exchange pair 702 (indicated as a channel to control unit connection 702). For example, in certain embodiments a host 104 may in an outbound exchange 704 send a Fibre channel frame to a fabric 108 a and indicate a priority for the Fibre Channel frame in a priority field in the header of the Fibre Channel frame. The fabric 108 a which supports priority indications for Fibre Channel frames may forward the Fibre Channel frame to a storage controller 102. As a result, the storage controller 102 receives the priority indicated by the host 104. While responding to the host 104 via the fabric in an inbound exchange 706, the storage controller 102 responds with frames that have the same priority indicated originally by the host 104. As a result, the host 104 receives the response of the storage controller 102 with the same priority as the priority indicated by the host 104.

In some input/output (I/O) protocols, such FICON, there are multiple related exchanges 702, 708 used to complete an operation. Certain embodiments ensure that Fibre Channel frames sent through a fabric on these related exchanges 702, 708 maintain the same priority as the frames used on the exchange that initiated the operation.

The FICON protocol uses exchange pairs comprising an outbound and an inbound exchange. The outbound exchange 704 is used by a channel (e.g. a host) to initiate an I/O operation with a control unit or target device. The target device opens a new inbound exchange 706 to transmit any responses to the channel that initiated the operation. In certain embodiments, if a priority value is recorded for the operation (the Fibre Channel frame that started the operation on the outbound exchange 704 has the priority set), then any frame sent on the related inbound exchange 706 uses the recorded priority value.

When FICON operations may take longer than a normal time to execute (some number of microseconds or milliseconds, e.g., when data is not available in cache and has to be fetched from secondary storage), in certain embodiments the operation is disconnected from the channel (intermediate status is provided and the inbound and outbound exchanges 704, 706 are closed). Later when the operation is able to complete, a reconnection to the channel (e.g., the host 104) is performed by the target device (e.g., the storage controller 102) by opening a new inbound exchange 710 to complete the I/O operation. The same priority needs is used on the reconnected operation as was used for the initial operation.

In certain embodiments, this reconnection may occur through a different physical path that the one that started the initial operation. The chosen path may be operated by a separate port 128 q than the initial port 126 a. The ports 126 a, 128 q communicate to the central processing complex 116 for executing the operations. For the case of a disconnected operation, the first port 126 a may communicate the recorded priority value to the central processing complex 116 where the central processing complex 116 records the priority value 120 for the operation in a Task Control Block 118. When the central processing complex 116 is ready to complete the operation, a reconnection path is chosen and the recorded priority value is communicated to the port 128 q chosen for reconnection. The second port 128 q records the priority value with the exchange pair 708 that is used to complete the operation and uses this priority value in any frames sent on the new inbound exchange 710 created for reconnection. The outbound exchange 712 in the exchange pair 708 also uses the same priority value.

Therefore FIG. 7 illustrates certain embodiments in which related exchange pairs 702, 708 maintain identical priority values for Fibre Channel frames (shown via reference numeral 714)

FIG. 8 illustrates a third flowchart 800 that shows operations performed for maintaining priority within related exchange pairs when reconnection is via the same or a different physical path, in accordance with certain embodiments.

Control starts at block 802 in which a first device 102 (storage controller 102) coupled to a second device 104 (host 104) receives an outbound exchange from the second device 104 (host 104), wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange have a priority indicated by the second device 104 (host 104). The first device 102 (storage controller 102) responds (at block 804) to the second device 104 (host 104) with an inbound exchange, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange have an identical priority to the priority indicated by the second device 104 (host 104) in the outbound exchange.

In additional embodiments, the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange comprise a first exchange pair 805. A connection between the first device 102 (storage controller 102) and the second device 104 (host 104) is disconnected (at block 806). Subsequent to disconnecting, the first device 102 (storage controller 102) and second device 104 (host 104) are reconnected at block 806 (either via the same physical path as the physical path of the first exchange pair as shown via reference numeral 808, or via a different physical path as shown via the reference numeral 812).

From block 808 control flows to block 810, in which a communication is performed via a second exchange pair 811 comprising another outbound and inbound exchange, wherein Fibre Channel frames of the second exchange pair have an identical priority to the priority indicated in the first exchange pair.

In further embodiments, the reconnecting occurs through a different physical path than a path of the first exchange pair (as shown via reference numeral 812). The priority is recorded in a task control block maintained in the first device (at block 614), and the recorded priority is used for the second exchange pair 817 (at block 818).

In certain embodiments shown in FIG. 8, the priority is indicated by programming a CS_CTL/Priority field in a frame headers corresponding to one Fibre Channel frame.

Therefore FIGS. 1-8 illustrate certain embodiments in which priority is maintained for Fibre Channel frames within an exchange pair, and within related exchange pairs in FICON.

Cloud Computing Environment

Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

Referring now to FIG. 9, an illustrative cloud computing environment 50 is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 comprises one or more cloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used by cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C, and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computing device. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shown in FIG. 9 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes 10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type of computerized device over any type of network and/or network addressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 10, a set of functional abstraction layers provided by cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 9) is shown. It should be understood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shown in FIG. 10 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limited thereto.

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and software components. Examples of hardware components include mainframes, in one example IBM zSeries* systems; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers, in one example IBM pSeries* systems; IBM xSeries* systems; IBM BladeCenter* systems; storage devices; networks and networking components. Examples of software components include network application server software, in one example IBM WebSphere* application server software; and database software, in one example IBM DB2* database software. * IBM, zSeries, pSeries, xSeries, BladeCenter, WebSphere, and DB2 are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

Virtualization layer 62 provides an abstraction layer from which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers; virtual storage; virtual networks, including virtual private networks; virtual applications and operating systems; and virtual clients.

In one example, management layer 64 may provide the functions described below. Resource provisioning provides dynamic procurement of computing resources and other resources that are utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloud computing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of these resources. In one example, these resources may comprise application software licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloud consumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources. User portal provides access to the cloud computing environment for consumers and system administrators. Service level management provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such that required service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning and fulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated in accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 66 provides examples of functionality for which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping and navigation; software development and lifecycle management; virtual classroom education delivery; data analytics processing; transaction processing; and the priority maintaining applications 68 (e.g., the host application 110 and the storage controller application 112) as shown in FIGS. 1-8.

Additional Embodiment Details

The described operations may be implemented as a method, apparatus or computer program product using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the embodiments may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the embodiments may take the form of a computer program product. The computer program product may include a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present embodiments.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by an instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in each computing/processing device receives computer readable program instructions from the network and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium within the respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations of the present embodiments may be assembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The computer readable program instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by utilizing state information of the computer readable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present embodiments.

Aspects of the present embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects of the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instruction.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram that shows certain elements that may be included in the host 114 or storage controller 112 in accordance with certain embodiments. The system 1100 may include a circuitry 1102 that may in certain embodiments include at least a processor 1104. The system 1100 may also include a memory 1106 (e.g., a volatile memory device), and storage 1108. The storage 1108 may include a non-volatile memory device (e.g., EEPROM, ROM, PROM, RAM, DRAM, SRAM, flash, firmware, programmable logic, etc.), magnetic disk drive, optical disk drive, tape drive, etc. The storage 1108 may comprise an internal storage device, an attached storage device and/or a network accessible storage device. The system 1100 may include a program logic 1110 including code 1112 that may be loaded into the memory 1106 and executed by the processor 1104 or circuitry 1102. In certain embodiments, the program logic 1110 including code 1112 may be stored in the storage 1108. In certain other embodiments, the program logic 1110 may be implemented in the circuitry 1102. Therefore, while FIG. 11 shows the program logic 1110 separately from the other elements, the program logic 1110 may be implemented in the memory 1106 and/or the circuitry 1102.

Certain embodiments may be directed to a method for deploying computing instruction by a person or automated processing integrating computer-readable code into a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system is enabled to perform the operations of the described embodiments.

The terms “an embodiment”, “embodiment”, “embodiments”, “the embodiment”, “the embodiments”, “one or more embodiments”, “some embodiments”, and “one embodiment” mean “one or more (but not all) embodiments of the present invention(s)” unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, “having” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise.

The terms “a”, “an” and “the” mean “one or more”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries.

A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. On the contrary a variety of optional components are described to illustrate the wide variety of possible embodiments of the present invention.

Further, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described does not necessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of processes described herein may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device/article (whether or not they cooperate) may be used in place of a single device/article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein (whether or not they cooperate), it will be readily apparent that a single device/article may be used in place of the more than one device or article or a different number of devices/articles may be used instead of the shown number of devices or programs. The functionality and/or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are not explicitly described as having such functionality/features. Thus, other embodiments of the present invention need not include the device itself.

At least certain operations that may have been illustrated in the figures show certain events occurring in a certain order. In alternative embodiments, certain operations may be performed in a different order, modified or removed. Moreover, steps may be added to the above described logic and still conform to the described embodiments. Further, operations described herein may occur sequentially or certain operations may be processed in parallel. Yet further, operations may be performed by a single processing unit or by distributed processing units.

The foregoing description of various embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto. The above specification, examples and data provide a complete description of the manufacture and use of the composition of the invention. Since many embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides in the claims hereinafter appended. affiliates. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method using a Fibre Connection (FICON) protocol, the method comprising: receiving, by a first device coupled to a second device, an outbound exchange from the second device, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange have a priority indicated by the second device; in response to receiving by the first device the outbound exchange from the second device, responding, by first device to the second device, with an inbound exchange, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange have an identical priority to the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange, wherein the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange comprise a first exchange pair; in response to receiving by the second device the inbound exchange with the identical priority as the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange, disconnecting connection between the first device and the second device, wherein the connection is via a first physical path operated by a first port, and wherein the first port communicates the priority to a central processing complex to record the priority in a task control block; subsequent to disconnecting the connection, reconnecting the first device and second device via a second physical path operated by a second port, wherein the priority recorded in the task control block is communicated to the second port; and in response to the reconnecting, communicating via a second exchange pair comprising another outbound and inbound exchange over the second physical path operated by the second port, wherein the second port uses the recorded priority communicated to the second port to ensure that Fibre Channel frames of the second exchange pair have an identical priority to the priority indicated in the first exchange pair.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein: the first device is a storage controller that controls a plurality of storage devices; the second device is a host; and a fabric comprising one or more Fibre Channel switches couples the first device to the second device.
 3. The method of claim 2, the method further comprising: transmitting, by the fabric, the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange according to and with the priority indicated by the host to the storage controller; and transmitting, by the fabric, the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange according to and with the identical priority indicated by the storage controller in the inbound exchange.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority is indicated by programming a CS_CTL/Priority field in a frame headers corresponding to one Fibre Channel frame.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange is comprised of one or more sequences, and wherein each sequence is comprised of one or more Fibre Channel frames.
 6. A system comprising first device, wherein the first device is coupled to a second device via a Fibre Connection (FICON) protocol, the system comprising: a memory; and a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor performs operations, the operations comprising: receiving, by a first device coupled to a second device, an outbound exchange from the second device, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange have a priority indicated by the second device; in response to receiving by the first device the outbound exchange from the second device, responding, by first device to the second device, with an inbound exchange, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange have an identical priority to the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange, wherein the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange comprise a first exchange pair; in response to receiving by the second device the inbound exchange with the identical priority as the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange, disconnecting connection between the first device and the second device, wherein the connection is via a first physical path operated by a first port, and wherein the first port communicates the priority to a central processing complex to record the priority in a task control block; subsequent to disconnecting the connection, reconnecting the first device and second device via a second physical path operated by a second port, wherein the priority recorded in the task control block is communicated to the second port; and in response to the reconnecting, communicating via a second exchange pair comprising another outbound and inbound exchange over the second physical path operated by the second port, wherein the second port uses the recorded priority communicated to the second port to ensure that Fibre Channel frames of the second exchange pair have an identical priority to the priority indicated in the first exchange pair.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein: the first device is a storage controller that controls a plurality of storage devices; the second device is a host; and a fabric comprising one or more Fibre Channel switches couples the first device to the second device.
 8. The system of claim 7, the operations further comprising: transmitting, by the fabric, the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange according to and with the priority indicated by the host to the storage controller; and transmitting, by the fabric, the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange according to and with the identical priority indicated by the storage controller in the inbound exchange.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the priority is indicated by programming a CS_CTL/Priority field in a frame headers corresponding to one Fibre Channel frame.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein each of the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange is comprised of one or more sequences, and wherein each sequence is comprised of one or more Fibre Channel frames.
 11. A computer program product for use in a Fibre Connection (FICON) protocol, the computer program product comprising: a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code configured to perform operations on a processor, the operations comprising: receiving, by a first device coupled to a second device, an outbound exchange from the second device, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange have a priority indicated by the second device; in response to receiving by the first device the outbound exchange from the second device, responding, by first device to the second device, with an inbound exchange, wherein one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange have an identical priority to the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange, wherein the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange comprise a first exchange pair; in response to receiving by the second device the inbound exchange with the identical priority as the priority indicated by the second device in the outbound exchange, disconnecting connection between the first device and the second device, wherein the connection is via a first physical path operated by a first port, and wherein the first port communicates the priority to a central processing complex to record the priority in a task control block; subsequent to disconnecting the connection, reconnecting the first device and second device via a second physical path operated by a second port, wherein the priority recorded in the task control block is communicated to the second port; and in response to the reconnecting, communicating via a second exchange pair comprising another outbound and inbound exchange over the second physical path operated by the second port, wherein the second port uses the recorded priority communicated to the second port to ensure that Fibre Channel frames of the second exchange pair have an identical priority to the priority indicated in the first exchange pair.
 12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein: the first device is a storage controller that controls a plurality of storage devices; the second device is a host; and a fabric comprising one or more Fibre Channel switches couples the first device to the second device.
 13. The computer program product of claim 12, the operations further comprising: transmitting, by the fabric, the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the outbound exchange according to and with the priority indicated by the host to the storage controller; and transmitting, by the fabric, the one or more Fibre Channel frames of the inbound exchange according to and with the identical priority indicated by the storage controller in the inbound exchange.
 14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the priority is indicated by programming a CS_CTL/Priority field in a frame headers corresponding to one Fibre Channel frame.
 15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein each of the inbound exchange and the outbound exchange is comprised of one or more sequences, and wherein each sequence is comprised of one or more Fibre Channel frames. 